New York City A City Journal

Very cool!

One of the world's greatest cities.  Your version looks better than the reality.  

this is unbelievable - how many years did this take?!

On 8/22/2020 at 8:35 PM, StevieKam84 said:

this is unbelievable - how many years did this take?!

I started working on this CJ in late summer/fall of 2018. 

This is incredible....absolutely stunning, down to the Robert Moses-style housing. I can't tell you how many times my family drove down the FDR drive with me in the back, seeing this EXACT skyline.

I'll write more about this wonderful work later, after dinner and Jeopardy!

 

Done with tonight's entertainment.

I went to high school at 1st Avenue and East 15th Street (Stuyvesant HS), so I know this neighborhood very well.

For the benefit of those who have not lived there, the housing complex with the circular park in the middle is Stuyvesant Village, originally designed as affordable housing. Today, not so much. North of that, divided by East 20th Street, is Peter Cooper Village, also originally designed as affordable housing. The block of 20th Street between 1st Avenue and FDR Drive is a two-way street -- the only portion of that artery to enjoy such status -- to provide areas for retail shops, supermarkets, et al.

South of Stuyvesant Village and its restored cast-iron lampposts is "Alphabet City," so named for having Avenues A through D. This portion of the Lower East Side is studded with housing projects and old- and new-law tenements. The latter's tenants are giving way to condo-mania.

East 7th Street off of Avenue B is a dead-end street that has been used for movie-making. I remember seeing it jammed with pushcarts for the shooting of "The Godfather Part II."

This is an incredible piece of work. I hope the creator of this magnificent city and some day provide us with the baseball stadium on the Harlem River where two generations of my family watched their two favorite baseball teams play: the New York Giants and the New York Yankees. That park, of course, was the Polo Grounds.

Great ballpark.

 

3 hours ago, Kiwiwriter47 said:

Done with tonight's entertainment.

I went to high school at 1st Avenue and East 15th Street (Stuyvesant HS), so I know this neighborhood very well.

For the benefit of those who have not lived there, the housing complex with the circular park in the middle is Stuyvesant Village, originally designed as affordable housing. Today, not so much. North of that, divided by East 20th Street, is Peter Cooper Village, also originally designed as affordable housing. The block of 20th Street between 1st Avenue and FDR Drive is a two-way street -- the only portion of that artery to enjoy such status -- to provide areas for retail shops, supermarkets, et al.

South of Stuyvesant Village and its restored cast-iron lampposts is "Alphabet City," so named for having Avenues A through D. This portion of the Lower East Side is studded with housing projects and old- and new-law tenements. The latter's tenants are giving way to condo-mania.

East 7th Street off of Avenue B is a dead-end street that has been used for movie-making. I remember seeing it jammed with pushcarts for the shooting of "The Godfather Part II."

This is an incredible piece of work. I hope the creator of this magnificent city and some day provide us with the baseball stadium on the Harlem River where two generations of my family watched their two favorite baseball teams play: the New York Giants and the New York Yankees. That park, of course, was the Polo Grounds.

Great ballpark.

 

I showed a bit more of Alphabet City and the East Villages in the 3rd entry of this CJ.

. Most certainly plan on re-creating Harlem in the future.  Once I finish up Mid-town and the Upper Eastside and Westside of Manhattan I will begin working on Uptown and Central Park. 

The Polo Grounds is a VERY TOUGH ballpark to model, as you can see from its unique shape. It is basically a giant bathtub squeezed into a valley below Coogan's Bluff.

Here's the fun part: Can SimCity replicate New York's elevated lines, which go OVER the street, as opposed to Chicago's, which go through their own private rights-of-way? I actually don't know.

North of the PG was a gigantic elevated yard, which was demolished in 1939 when they knocked down the 6th and 9th Avenue Els and sold them to Japan, which melted them down and fired them back at us at the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. Thanks a lot, Moses...

It was replaced by the Colonial Park Housing Project, which is still there. You could walk down the John T. Brush Memorial Staircase from Edgecombe Avenue to the Harlem River Speedway and down that a bit further and into the PG. It was the only ballpark in the majors you could access by going down the hills and ramps. 

After the PG was demolished and replaced by the Polo Grounds Housing Project (where irritated residents show their dislike of government by dropping mayonnaise jars on police and official vehicles), the stairway was abandoned and unusable. It got restored with financial support of the five teams that played at the Polo Grounds. 

I attended an event there with the New York Giants Historical Preservation Society and then-Giants pitch Marc Melancon, who had a keen interest in baseball and Giants history, and his agent provided pizza. The Giants' videographers covered the event and interviewed me, as I told them how my great-uncle knew Giants Manager John J. McGraw personally and helped rig the 1919 World Series. They were impressed. I told them they had the job I always wanted, and was even more impressed.

I gave Melancon some books on Giant history. That night he went on the disabled list. Obviously, meeting me drove him crazy.

Here are some snaps from the event.

 

20 hours ago, Kiwiwriter47 said:

The Polo Grounds is a VERY TOUGH ballpark to model, as you can see from its unique shape. It is basically a giant bathtub squeezed into a valley below Coogan's Bluff.

Here's the fun part: Can SimCity replicate New York's elevated lines, which go OVER the street, as opposed to Chicago's, which go through their own private rights-of-way? I actually don't know.

North of the PG was a gigantic elevated yard, which was demolished in 1939 when they knocked down the 6th and 9th Avenue Els and sold them to Japan, which melted them down and fired them back at us at the Battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. Thanks a lot, Moses...

It was replaced by the Colonial Park Housing Project, which is still there. You could walk down the John T. Brush Memorial Staircase from Edgecombe Avenue to the Harlem River Speedway and down that a bit further and into the PG. It was the only ballpark in the majors you could access by going down the hills and ramps. 

After the PG was demolished and replaced by the Polo Grounds Housing Project (where irritated residents show their dislike of government by dropping mayonnaise jars on police and official vehicles), the stairway was abandoned and unusable. It got restored with financial support of the five teams that played at the Polo Grounds. 

I attended an event there with the New York Giants Historical Preservation Society and then-Giants pitch Marc Melancon, who had a keen interest in baseball and Giants history, and his agent provided pizza. The Giants' videographers covered the event and interviewed me, as I told them how my great-uncle knew Giants Manager John J. McGraw personally and helped rig the 1919 World Series. They were impressed. I told them they had the job I always wanted, and was even more impressed.

I gave Melancon some books on Giant history. That night he went on the disabled list. Obviously, meeting me drove him crazy.

Here are some snaps from the event.

 

The NAM has a puzzle piece that allows elevated rail over roads as shown in the attached photo, I will recreate once I start getting into Queens, Brooklyn and Uptown Manhattan "Harlem", and Bronx. There are a few roads in Chicago that have elevated rail over roads for example Lake Street, 63rd street and the streets within the loop